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Human Service Associate

You can turn your dedication to helping others into a career with a Human Service Associate degree at Gateway Technical College. Human service associates help people enduring difficult times or help them decide what additional services they may need. Human service associates work closely with social workers and other various human service agencies. They help determine what type of help a client might need, help with daily activities, coordinate client services and research available services. Gateway’s Human Service program consists of a unique combination of study including various aspects of human services and general education, and also requires students to complete 300 hours of field experience in a community human service agency. Courses cover interviewing, recordkeeping, counseling, abnormal psychology, professional ethics, addictions, working with special populations and grant writing.

Human service associates help clients in daily activities, coordinate services for clients and monitor clients to ensure they are receiving proper treatments and services. Associates can work in government, non-profit and other service-based industries.

Students complete 300 hours of field experience in the second year of the program. Students are given several field experience site options that meet their interests and work directly with a site supervisor during their field experience. Previous sites include Safe Haven, Kenosha Human Development Services, YMCA and YWCA. Site experiences give students real-world experience in the field.

The Human Service club is very active and engages in several major projects as well as other campus activities. Projects include Community Awareness Day, A Walk of Fame dance for adults with disabilities and collecting donations to assist community human service agencies.

Students who are looking to advance their career and expand their knowledge base in human services can take a related certificate. Certificates can usually be completed in one or two semesters. Current certificates for the Human Service Associate degree include Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (AODA), Aspects of Disabilities, Gerontology and Child Welfare.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of social and human service associates is expected to grow by 28 percent through 2020, far ahead of most occupations. Growth is due to the aging population’s need for health care and social services. The median annual salary of social and human service associates was $30,830 in 2015.

Certificates offer students the opportunity to specialize and focus on key classes that can help them advance their careers. These certificate opportunities include:

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“Gateway offers students career specific training focused on developing employment skills that are most needed in the community. In addition, hands-on work experience directly immerses students into the workplace and gives the opportunity to directly experience the profession. I really enjoy helping others reach their goals and develop their full potential in the classroom.”

“Gateway offers students career specific training focused on developing employment skills that are most needed in the community. In addition, hands-on work experience directly immerses students into the workplace and gives the opportunity to directly experience the profession. I really enjoy helping others reach their goals and develop their full potential in the classroom.”